Luminaire

ABSTRACT

A wall mounted luminaire comprising a one-piece housing having a transverse wall sloping downwardly toward the rear forming an upper ballast compartment and a lower lamp compartment. The housing has rear vent openings at the top and bottom to permit convection flow of heated air through the housing while providing for drainage of rainwater which may enter the unit.

United States Patent [72] lnventors Lewis W. Kenyon Flat Rock; Robert G.Kilpatrick, Hendersonville, NC. [21] Appl. No. 815,869 [22] Filed Apr.14, 1969 [45] Patented Apr. 6, )1971 [73] Assignee General ElectricCompany [54] LUMINAIRE l5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

i521 u.s.t:| 24o/73,

24o/41.55, 24o/47 [51] intel rzisl/oz [50i rieidofsearch 24o/41.55,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,337,685 l2/l943 Schepmoes24U/73X 3,033,980 5/ 1962 Pickering et al. 240/47 3,459,936 8/1969Miller 240/73 3,473,017 10/1969 Lim et al 240/73 Primary Examiner-SamuelS. Matthews Assistant Examiner-Fred L. Braun Attorneys-Sidney Greenberg,J. Wesley Haubner, Frank L.

Neuhauser and Oscar B. Waddell ABSTRACT: A wall mounted luminairecomprising a onepiece housing having a transverse wall slopingdownwardly toward the rear forming an upper ballast compartment and alower lamp compartment. The housing has rear vent openings at the topand bottom to permit convection flow of heated air through the housingwhile providing for drainage of rainwater which may enter the unit.

Luft/imams The present invention relates to luminaires, and inparticular concerns luminaires of outdoor type adapted to be mounted onwalls for illuminating walkways, entrances, parking lots and otherareas.

It is an object of the invention to provide a wall-mounted luminairehaving an improved housing construction for passage of cooling airflowwhile preventing the entry of water to the interior thereof. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a luminaire of the abovetype which is mechanically strong, has a minimum number of partsfacilitating assembly of the unit, is relatively inexpensive tomanufacture, is neat in appearance, and provides protection againstweather conditions, vandalism and the effects of heat generated therein.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a luminaire of theabove type having an improved refractor mounting arrangement.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription and the appended claims.

With the above objects in view, the present invention in a broad aspectrelates to a luminaire comprising, in combination, a housing having arear wall, a transverse wall projecting forwardly from the top of therear wall, and a top wall defining with the transverse wall a rearwardlyopen upper compartment above the rear wall, a light transmitting closuresuch as a refractor detachably secured to the front of the housingdefining with the rear wall a lower compartment separated from the uppercompartment by the transverse wall, lampholder means mounted in theupper compartment, the transverse wall having a lamp opening below thelampholder means through which a lamp may be inserted with substantialclearance for operative attachment to the lampholder means, the rearwall being formed at the bottom thereof with an aperture, whereby duringoperation of the luminaire cool air drawn into the lower compartmentthrough the bottom aperture passes upwardly around the lamp, through thelamp opening and out through the rearward opening of the uppercompartment.

The invention will be better understood from the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a front elevational view, partly broken away, of a luminaireconstructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the FIG. I luminaire, with parts brokenaway to show the interior of the upper ballast compartment;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the FIG. I luminaire taken along theline 33;

FIG. I is an exploded view of the luminaire in reduced scale showing itscomponent parts in perspective;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view ofthe luminaire with back plateremoved;

FIG. o is a detailed view of the clamp band hinge as viewed from therear;

FIG. 7 is a view of the clamp band hinge as viewed from the side;

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the latching mechanism of the clamp band;and

FIG. Il is a perspective view of a different form of latching device.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. I- 3, there isshown a luminaire of somewhat semicylindrical form comprising a housingI formed of one piece, typically of cast aluminum, with a top wall Ia, atransverse wall Ib and a vertical rear wall Ic. Enclosing the lowerportion of housing I is a refractor 2 having a semicylindrical sidewall2a and semicircular bottom wall 2b and being held in assembly on`housing I by clamp band Id, as more fully disclosed hereinafter.Transverse housing wall Ib divides the interior of the luminaire into anupper ballast compartment 3 and a lower lamp compartment d. Lamp 5 isarranged in compartment d with its stem portion extending upwardlythrough an aperture o in transverse wall Ib and its base threadablyengaging lamp socket 7, which is secured within upper compartment 3 bybracket b fixed t0 a boss 9 on the inside of top housing wall Ia. Alsomounted in upper compartment 3 by means of suitable brackets secured tobosses projecting rearwardly from top wall Ia (see FIG. 2) are ballasttransformer I0 and capacitor II, the arrangement being such that 'thelatter ballast com ponents are spaced above the floor of transverse wallIb. lf desired, an electrically insulating shield I7 may be inserted inthe space between the socket 7 and ballast transformer I0 as shown inFIG. 2 to prevent contact with the transformer by service personnelthrough lamp opening o during relamping operations.

In lower compartment LI, reflector I2, which is somewhat trapezoidal inshape, is attached by a single mounting comprising keyhole I2a and screwI3 secured to a boss on rear housing wall Ic behind lamp 5, and as seenin FIG. 3, the upper portion of reflector I2 is bent forwardly relativeto its lower portion. Reflector I2 rests against three support bosses Ir(see FIG. I) projecting from spaced points of rear wall Ic. The lengthof the supporting bosses Ir may be varied as desired to change theoptical configuration of reflector I2.

Rear housing wall Ic is formed in a central region behind the bent upperportion of reflector I2 with an aperture Ih for insertion on anelectrical conductor conduit in installation of the unit. The bentportion of reflector I2 thus defines with rear wall llt` a compartmentin which the power leads and the luminaire wiring connections theretomay be disposed.

The half-cup shaped refractor 2 which encloses lamp compartment I isformed with a flange 2c around its upper rim and is held in assemblywith housing I by semicircular clamp band Il, which, being channelshapedin cross section, embraces the bottom of flange 2c and the top surfacesof retaining bosses Ie which project at spaced imtervals (see FIG. I)around the front and sides of top wall Ic. As seen in FIG. 4I, the frontside of rear housing wall Ic is formed along its margin with a recess Idin which the lower U-shaped portion 15a of a gasket I5 is seated. GasketI5 also has an upper semicircular portion I5b which engages the curvedouter surface of housing I below retaining bosses le. Gasket IS thusforms a weatherproof seal at the joint between mating surfaces ofhousing I and refractor 2. Gasket I5 is typically made of a thick, soft,rubber-foam material of closed-cell type which is adhesively attached tohousing I. Clamp band I4 is hinged at one end to housing I and latchedat its other end to the housing, as more fully described below, so thatrefractor 2 may be removed after band II is unlatched and swungoutwardly on its hinge.

The rear opening of housing compartment 3 is closed by back coverplateI6 which is held in assembly on the housing by suitable means such asscrews received in tapped bosses If, Ig on the opposite sides of theupper compartment (see FIG. 5). A platelike gasket I8 may further beprovided on the rear face of the housing as seen in FIG. 3 to seal outwater from conduit boxes or the like over which the unit may be mounted.Aperture Ia in gasket I8 is in register with conduit opening Ih in therear wall Ic of the housing. The unit is mounted on the supportingvertical surface, such as a wall, by lag bolts I9 or the like (see FIG.3) passing through apertures Ii, Ij in rear housing wall Ic (FIG. 5).

As seen in FIG. 3, backplate I7 is so dimensioned that its upper edge isspaced below top housing wall Ia, thus defining a vent slot 20 extendingalong the top of the unit. At its bottom edge, backplate I6 is similarlyspaced above wall Ib to provide a drain opening to allow drainage of anywater that may enter through vent slot 20. At the bottom of rear housingwall Ic an aperture Ik is formed about midway between the lateral edgesthereof. At its forward edge transverse wall Ib is formed with aplurality of spaced vent holes in providing communication between lowercompartment d and upper compartment 3.

By virtue of the arrangement described, the luminaire unit duringoperation is effectively cooled by convection flow and heat radiation soas to enable the use of synthetic material such as polycarbonate andacrylic plastics instead of glass for refractor 2 which might otherwisebe adversely affected by the heat generated in the luminaire. As airwithin lower compartment 4 is heated by lamp 5 it rises. As indicated byarrows in FIG. 3, the hot air close to lamp 5 passes upwardly along thelamp and through opening 6 surrounding the lamp stem into uppercompartment 3, and then escapes through rear vent slot to the exterior.The heated air further away from lamp 5 in the lower compartment isdirected by the upper bent portion of reflector l2 and the upwardlyslanting underside of housing wall lb towards the front portion of thelatterl wall where it reaches and passes through vent holes in intoupper compartment 3, from which it leaves through rear vent 20. Coolerair is drawn into the luminaire through bottom aperture lk. The locationof the latter aperture is such that it allows cool air to be drawn froma large area and serves as a drain hole to prevent collection of waterwhich might enter the luminaire. ln addition, in the installed positionof the luminaire on a vertical surface, aperture lk is hidden andthereby does not allow substantial leakage of light therethrough; as aresult it avoids attraction and entry of insects into the luminaireinterior.

ln addition to providing for convection cooling as described, theone-piece housing, which typically is of cast aluminum having good heatconduction properties, serves to effectively conduct heat from the loweroptical compartment to the upper ballast compartment and dissipates theheat by radiation from its exposed top, side and front wall surfaces tothe atmosphere.

A further feature of the invention is the structure provided for holdingthe refractor 2 in assembly on the unit. The hinged end of clamp band14, as seen in FIG. 6, lies in a notch lm fonned in the housing sidewalland is hingedly secured to the housing by means of hinge pin 2l, whichcouples the end of clamp band 14 to a journal member 22 secured tohousing l by screw 23 and having spaced projections fitting within bandI4 and pivotally connected thereto by pin 2l. Tab 22a of the journalmember which is bent over on the rear of housing l prevents rotation ofthe journal member. Hinge pin 2l is held captive in operative positionby the walls of notch lm. lf desired, a screw passing through a hole intab 22a may be driven into a tapped hole at the rear edge of the housing(not shown) in place of screw 23 so as to provide a tamperproof`attachment of the clamp band hinge when the fixture is mounted against awall.

The other end of clamp band I4 is provided with a latching devicecomprising a finger tab or lever 24 hinged at one end to band 14 andhaving pivotally attached thereto intermediate its ends a spring-loadedlatch 25 adapted to engage catch member 26 fixed to housing l by screw27. As in the case of the hinged journal member 22, catch member 26 hasa tab 26a bent over the rear edge of the housing to prevent rotationthereof, and similarly may thereby be secured by a screw driven into therear` of housing l for preventing tampering therewith.

An alternative tamperproof latching device is shown in FlG. 9 andcomprises tab 28 fixed to clamp band 14, tab 29 with a bent-over portionsecured to housing l by a screw driven into the rear of the housingwall, and screw 3l connecting together the spaced, laterally projectingportions of tabs 28 and 29. The head of screw 3l is of a type which canbe turned only by a special tool. As will be evident, the arrangement issuch that with the luminaire mounted against a wall, the clamp bandcannot be readily removed or unlatched.

To ensure effective sealing between refractor 2 and housing l, therefractor is formed so that its top edge face which abuts the housing isat 90 to the plane of its rearward abutting edge faces, whereas thecorresponding refractor-engaging surfaces of housing l are at an angleof slightly less than 90, so that when clamp band 14 is latched in placeand presses against the top rim of refractor 2, the bottom edge of therefractor istightly pressed against the bottom edge gasket.

ln a further feature which enhances the sealing engagement of refractor2 in housing l, the upper surfaces of positioning bosses le slopupwardly in an inward direction, with the result that when clamp band 14is latched in place, it is pushed upwardly by the camming action ofthese slopes and thereby forces the refractor rim 2c more tightlyagainst the mating surfaces of positioning bosses 1e.

The described luminaire construction affords numerous ad vantages. Theone-piece housing structure provides, in addition to the coolingfunctions mentioned, superior mechanical strength and a compactconstruction which reduces the number of luminaire parts, simplifiesassembly operations, and makes the luminaire substantially lessexpensive to manufacture. The sloped transverse housing wall serves toaid convection flow, prevents passage of water to the opticalcompartment while avoiding collection of water on the wall itself, andaids in forwardly directing the light reflected therefrom in the opticalcompartment, especially when coated with a reflective paint.

Reflector l2 with forwardly slanting top portion serves not only toreflect light outwardly through the refractor but also to cover theluminaire mounting screws and the wiring connections to the power leadsentering the rear of the housing. The arrangement is such that theinstaller need not enter the ballast compartment for installation ornormal maintenance operations. Relamping of the luminaire is readilydone by simply unlatching clamp band 14 and removing refractor 2 toprovide access to lamp 5, without risk of contact with electrical leads,ballast components or other energized electrical equipment or entry ofrainwater into the electrical compartment.

While the present linvention has been described with reference toparticular embodiments thereof, it will be understood that numerousmodifications may be made by those skilled in the art without actuallydeparting from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, we wish to haveit understood that we intend herein to cover all such modifications asfall within the true spirit and scope of our invention.

We claim:

l. A luminaire comprising, in combination, a housing having a rear wall,a transverse wall projecting forwardly from the top of said rear wall,and a top wall defining with said transverse wall a rearwardly openupper compartment above said rear wall, a light transmitting closuredetachably secured to the front of said housing defining with said rearwall a lower compartment separated from the upper compartment by saidtransverse wall, lampholder means mounted in the upper compartment, saidtransverse wall having a lamp opening below said lampholder meansthrough which a lamp may be inserted with substantial clearance foroperative attachment to the lampholder means, said rear wall beingformed at the bottom thereof with an aperture, whereby during operationof the luminaire cool air drawn into the lower compartment through saidbottom aperture passes upwardly around the lamp, through said lampopening and out through the rearward opening of the upper compartment.

2. A luminaire as defined in claim l, said transverse wall slopingupwardly toward the front.

3. A luminaire as defined in claim 2, said transverse wall having atleast one aperture at the front thereof through which heated air mayflow from the lower compartment to the upper compartment.

4. A luminaire as defined in claim 2, said transverse wall having aplurality of spaced apertures at the front thereof through which heatedair may flow from the lower compartment to the upper compartment.

5. A luminaire as defined in claim 3, including electrical operatingcomponents mounted in the upper compartment.

6. A luminaire as defined in claim 5, including a reflector mounted onsaid rear wall in the lower compartment for directing light from thelamp outwardly through said light transmitting closure.

7. A luminaire as defined in claim 6, said reflector having a lowerportion extending generally along said rear wall and a forwardly bentupper portion, said upper portion directing convection airflow towardsaid lamp opening and defining with said rear wall a wiring compartment.

8. A luminaire as defined in claim 5, and a cover on the rear opening ofsaid upper compartment, said cover being spaced at its top from said topwall so as to define therewith a vent for escape of heated air from saidupper compartment.

9. A luminaire as defined in claim 8, said cover being spaced at itsbottom from said transverse wall so as to define therewith a drainopening.

l0. A luminaire as defined in claim l, said top wall having a frontsurface and clamp band means clamping said light transmitting closure atits top to the front surface of said top wall.

ll. A luminaire as defined in claim l0, said front surface being formedwith projecting means having top and bottom surfaces, said clamp bandmeans clamping said light transmitting closure to the bottom surface ofsaid projecting means.

l2. A luminaire as defined in claim ll, said light transmitting closurehaving a top surface bearing against said projecting means and a rearedge face urged against a bearing surface of said rear housing wall,said top surface and said rear face being at a predetermined anglerelative to one another,

said bottom surface and said bearing surface being at an angle less thansaid predetermined angle relative to one another.

13A A luminaire as defined in claim l0, said housing having oppositesides formed with recessed portions, hinge means at one end of saidclamp band means hingedly connecting the same to said housing andarranged within one of said recessed portions, and latch means at theother end of said clamp band means for detachably connecting the same tosaid housing, said other end of` said clamp band` means being arrangedwithin the other recessed portion.

114. A luminaire as defined in claim l, and means for mounting saidhousing at its rear wall on a. vertical supporting surface.

l5. A luminaire as defined in claim 10, said clamp band means beinghingedly connected at one end to said housing and latched at the otherend to said housing, and means at the rear of said housing securing therespective ends of said clamp band means to said housing.

1. A luminaire comprising, in combination, a housing having a rear wall,a transverse wall projecting forwardly from the top of said rear wall,and a top wall defining with said transverse wall a rearwardly openupper compartment above said rear wall, a light transmitting closuredetachably secured to the front of said housing defining with said rearwall a lower compartment separated from the upper compartment by saidtransverse wall, lampholder means mounted in the upper compartment, saidtransverse wall having a lamp opening below said lampholder meansthrough which a lamp may be inserted with substantial clearance foroperative attachment to the lampholder means, said rear wall beingformed at the bottom thereof with an aperture, whereby during operationof the luminaire cool air drawn into the lower compartment through saidbottom aperture passes upwardly around the lamp, through said lampopening and out through the rearward opening of the upper compartment.2. A luminaire as defined in claim 1, said transverse wall slopingupwardly toward the front.
 3. A luminaire as defined in claim 2, saidtransverse wall having at least one aperture at the front thereofthrough which heated air may flow from the lower compartment to theupper compartment.
 4. A luminaire as defined in claim 2, said transversewall having a plurality of spaced apertures at the front thereof throughwhich heated air may flow from the lower compartment to the uppercompartment.
 5. A luminaire as defined in claim 3, including electricaloperating components mounted in the upper compartment.
 6. A luminaire asdefined in claim 5, including a reflector mounted on said rear wall inthe lower compartment for directing light from the lamp outwardlythrough said light transmitting closure.
 7. A luminaire as defined inclaim 6, said reflector having a lower portion extending generally alongsaid rear wall and a forwardly bent upper portion, said upper portiondirecting convection airflow toward said lamp opening and defining withsaid rear wall a wiring compartment.
 8. A luminaire as defined in claim5, and a cover on the rear opening of said upper compartment, said coverbeing spaced at its top from said top wall so as to define therewith avent for escape of heated air from said upper compartment.
 9. Aluminaire as defined in claim 8, said cover being spaced at its bottomfrom said transverse wall so as to define therewith a drain opening. 10.A luminaire as defined in claim 1, said top wall having a front surfaceand clamp band means clamping said light transmitting closure at its topto the front surface of said top wall.
 11. A luminaire as defined inclaim 10, said front surface being formed with projecting means havingtop and bottom surfaces, said clamp band means clamping said lighttransmitting closure to the bottom surface of said projecting means. 12.A luminaire as defined in claim 11, said light transmitting closurehaving a top surface bearing against said projecting means and a rearedge face urged against a bearing surface of said rear housing wall,said top surface and said rear face being at a predetermined anglerelative to one another, said bottom surface and said bearing surfacebeing at an angle less than said predetermined angle relative to oneanother.
 13. A luminaire as defined in claim 10, said housing havingopposite sides formed with recessed portions, hinge means at one end ofsaid clamp band means hingedly connecting the same to said housing andarranged within one of said recessed portions, and latch means at theother end of said clamp band means for detachably connecting the same tosaid housing, said other end of said clamp band means being arrangedwithin the other recessed portion.
 14. A luminaire as defined in claim1, and means for mounting said housing at its rear wall on a verticalsupporting surface.
 15. A luminaire as defined in claim 10, said clampband means being hingedly connected at one end to said housing andlatched at the other end to said housing, and means at the rear of saidhousing securing the respective ends of said clamp band means to saidhousing.